ABSTRACT
A popular method of ancient education called for children to memorize various commands in order to improve their Latin and Greek. In the following excerpt we find a child practicing for the role of the head of a household, a position that he would one day be expected to fill:
Bring the cups and a dish, a candelabrum, decorate the table, sprinkle flowers in the dining room, set out charcoal and the incense burners, have everything prepared. Tell your fellow slave to make the food tasty, as I have important men as guests.
(Dionisotti, 1982, in Osgood, 2011, 75–76)